So the question is, as always, should I upgrade? While it looks like a nice device, and it is the same price as the original Paperwhite, it does look like an incremental upgrade. The screen is supposed to be higher contrast, and they say they’ve improved the integrated light. That’s a good thing. Lots of people were unhappy with the original light, although, to be fair, it wasn’t always clear if the fault was the light or user expectations.

Page turns are supposed to be faster, which is nice. They’ve added a new Page Flip feature, which will allow you to quickly skim through a book. That could be nice. Coming soon are integration with Goodreads, which I’ve been expecting for some time, and Kindle Freetime for Paperwhite, which is presumably something similar to Freetime for the Kindle Fire.

I’m tempted. I have more than enough in my Amazon gift card balance to cover the cost plus a cover. But I think I’ll hold off for now. My Touch is working perfectly well, and I’m doing more reading on my iPad and Nook HD than on the Kindle.

Comments:

I’m seriously considering it. I have a Kindle 3G with one of the cases with the flip-out light. The lighting isn’t even (it gets faint at the bottom of the screen) and the connection is getting flaky. OTOH, I don’t know if could adjust to the touch-screen only way of changing pages. I think I’d like to see how the screen compares to the Kobo Aura, which has a wonderful display and is a bit larger than the Kindle (a good thing considering the font size I use as a default).